Many representatives from almost all political parties—national as well as regional—have, of late, been visiting Veerpal Kaur’s humble home in Punjab’s Ralla village in Mansa district, requesting support in the assembly elections. A farm suicide widow, Veerpal, 43, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Bathinda, which was retained by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
This election season, she decided to stay away owing to some serious health issues, and, as usual, financial problems—something that first drove her father, and after marriage, her husband and even her father-in-law to suicide. All these deaths happened within a span of 10 years due to Punjab’s biggest burning problem—agrarian distress.
